Katie Mosher has a chance to become FSU's all-time leader in digs. / FSView file photo

Written by

Ryan Summers

Staff Writer @RyanSummers14

The Florida State volleyball has been tabbed as the favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference in the 2014 season, boasting a No. 13 ranking in the preseason AVCA Coaches poll. The ’Noles have four returning players in their starting rotation and will have to find replacements to fill three starting positions from last year.

“We’re very excited,” head coach Chris Poole said. “Summer gets really long for coaches because we don’t get to work with our players and you’re dependent on the ladies staying fit and trying to play as much as they can. A lot of our girls had opportunities with national teams this summer, so we’re hoping it’s going to give us big dividends coming in.”

Last season, the Seminoles went to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball tournament, losing to the Wisconsin Badgers who would appear in the National Championship game. Poole earned his 700th career win as the Seminoles finished 26-8 and finished ranked 11 in the country.

This season FSU will have veteran leadership in almost every position, led by redshirt senior libero Katie Mosher, junior outside hitter Nicole Walch and senior setter Sarah Wickstrom. Along with a fleet of returning experienced players, the Seminoles added four freshman and several transfers to their roster this offseason.

“We’ve got a lot of new players this year,” Mosher said. “We’ve been trying to play over the past few weeks at the end of summer, but we’re ready to get this season started.”

Since the NCAA started governing women’s collegiate athletics in 1981, no teams from the ACC have ever won the volleyball National Championship, let alone play in the title game. Teams from the west coast and from the Big Ten usually dominate the country year after year with Penn State and Stanford being the two most successful women’s volleyball programs in history.

This season the ’Noles will see how they can perform against one of the top teams from the Big Ten conference before the postseason when they play their opening match against No. 7 Nebraska on August 29.

Along with new opponents in the revamped ACC this season, the Seminoles will take on several teams from the South Eastern Conference atop of their full ACC schedule that runs from the end of September until right before Thanksgiving.

The Seminoles are the favorites to win the ACC and are ranked higher in the preseason poll than any other team in the conference. The only other teams claiming a spot in the top twenty-five are North Carolina (20) and Duke (21).

Florida State will host the Seminole Invitational tournament the second weekend of September where they will host Samford, Central Arkansas, and Louisiana State University.

The rival No. 10 Florida Gators will come to town September 4 for a rematch of the series in which the Seminoles eliminated the Gators from the NCAA tournament in 2013.